Bailer



Aug. 22, 1939.

J. P. STEPHENS BAILER Filed Nov. 8, 1937 lll/7l INI/E NToR J. P.STEPHENS BY KM, W'LWkxnl W I ATTORNEYS.

Patented 22, 1939 PATENT OFFICE BAILER James P. Stephens, OklahomaCity,v0kla., assignor to Phillips Petroleum Company, a corporation ofDelaware Application November s, 1937, serial No. 173,467

6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in bailers which have beenprimarily designed for bailing oil. wells. More specifically it relatesto mechanical equipment for bailing and removing sand or other particlesfrom oil Wells.

Heretofore bailers have been provided wherein the interior chamber ofthe bailer was kept under a vacuum, which chamber, upon the landing ofthe bailer on the bottom' of the well hole, was opened to cause aninflow into the chamber. Such bailers, lwhile having certain advantages,are disadvantageous in that no provision is made for washing away theparticles and debris which are clogging the said particles around thewell hole. With the above mentioned type of bailer, as well as in theconventional type of bailer, the bailer lands in the debris in thebottom of the well without having cleaned the Well hole above the bottomof the well. The debris that is caused to enter the barrel of the baileris only that debris which is ahead of or beneath the bailer. The debriswhich is opposite the sides of the bailer remains in close contacttherewith and should there be any material settling or caving, such typeof bailers may become stuck in the well.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved bailer andoil sand washer wherein the bailer carries with' it a supply of fluidunder 'high pressure, which fluid is released on the landing of thebailer on the bottom of the well and causes a washing and agitation ofthe sand particles forming the wall of the well. When the iluid pressurehas been exhausted from the bailer and the lpressure has been reducedthere is an inflow of debris into the chamber of the bailer. Byreleasing fluid pressure in the well, the discharged uid will enlargethe cavity in the debris which is penetrated and formed by the bailer sothat there is no danger of the bailers sticking or becoming frozen inthe well.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved bailerwhich will loosen tightly packed cavings, sand, silt, wax and otherresidues collected in the bottom of the Well or accumulated vide animproved bailer which has a simple and eiective means for releasing thepressure fluid from the chamber when the bailer strikes the bottom ofthe well hole.

A still further object of the invention is to 5 provide an improvedbailer whichv is assembled from a minimum number of parts and is cheapto manufacture.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be mademanifest in the following de- 10 tailed description, and specificallypointed out in the appended claims, reference is made to theaccompanying drawing for an illustrative ernbodiment of the invention,wherein:

' Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view throughout l5 the entire length ofthe improved bailer.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectionalyview showing the lower end of theimproved bailer with a modied discharge means for the fluid pressure.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the upper 20 valve member in openposition.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, wherein similar referencecharacters designate similar parts throughout, in Fig. 1, the improvedbailer is shown a-s comprising a barrel 3, which 25 may be constructedof one or more sections of steel tubing, said bailer being shown aspassing through the casing 2 into the well hole I. The upper endvof thebarrel 3 is closed by a head piece 4 which head lpiece has mountedtherein 30 a valvevmember 5. The valve member comprises a main bottomportion 6 having a conical seat portion I screwed into the head piece 4.A cap member I2 having orifices I3 is screwed into the main valve bodymember B with a space between 35 the members 6 and I2. A valve memberhaving a head 8 has a seat portion 9 which seats on the seat 'I of thebody member 6. The valve head has a stem I0 passing through the spacebetween the members 6 and I2 with a coil spring II 40 mounted in thespace with the spring being so tensioned as to open the valve when thepressure in the chamber reaches a predetermined point. 'A bolt head onthe top of the valve stem holds th'e valve member assembled in themembers 45 6 and lI2 and the valve stem has a sliding fit through themember I2. The bailer has a bail I4 mounted on the top thereof whichattaches to the line I5 for raising or loweringthe same in the well.

The lower end of the barrel has a bottom piece I 6 mounted thereonsecured to .the barrel by either lugs or screw threads. Mounted in thebottom piece I6 is a member Il which is slidable in the bottom piece andclosed at the top thereof 55 by the flap valve I8. The bottom piece l@has a seat I@ on the top thereof on which the ange portion 2E of theslidable member Il seats to form a ground joint seal to close oi thechamber portion ZI. Mounted in the side wall of the barrel 3 is a check.valve 22 through which the chamber is iilled with gas to place the sameunder pressure. f

High pressure gas is stored in the chamber 2l and the gas employed isthe volatile gas which comes from the crude oil in the oil well. If thepressure of this gas is not suihcient as it comes from the well, thepressure of the same is raised suiiiciently by pump means before beingplaced in the bailer. To accomplish the filling of the chamber 2H, thegas is entered into the chamber through the check valve 22. The pressureof the gas will force the slidable member il to seal with the seat i8and since the iiap valve is hinged in. the opposite direction, it willalso be forced downward by the pressure of the gas, thus causing thebottom portion ofthe bailer to be tightly sealed at this point. At thetime the chamber is being lled with gas through the lower fill valve anyair in the chamber can beexhausted through the top valve il as thespring holds the same open when the chamber is below a predetermined gaspressure. The holding of the upper valve open to exhaust the airtherefrom is to insure against having an explosive mixture of air andgas within the chamber. When all the air has been exhausted from thechamber, pressure will be applied to the upper valve to close the `sameand when the gas pressure builds up will hold the valve closed, thusgiving a completely sealed and pressure tight chamber.

'I'he high pressure gas in the chamber is discharged from the bottom ofthe barrel through theispace 23 between the members I6 and Il.

The sliding member ll extends below the bottomv of the member IG so thatthe bottom of the sliding member Il comes into Contact with the bottoni.of the well first, thus lifting the sliding member from the seat I9,allowing the gas to flow out through the passage 23. The valve 8 in thehead piece of the bailer has the spring il sotensioned that the valvewill open when the pressure in the chamber has been reduced to apredetermined amount which will insure complete evacuation of the highpressure gas within the bailer body. The sand and silt will be brokenloose and thrown into suspension in the liquid iilling the bottom of thewell and since the pressure in 'the chamber has been completelyexhausted, the sand and silt will rush into the space in the chamberformerly occupied by the gas under pressure. The pressure of the fluidin the well now being higher than the interior of the chamber, the fluidwill force the fiapper valve to open and thus allow the liquid tolpassinto the chamber. When the bailer is removed from the well, the Weightof the fiuid in the chamber will force the slidable member to seat onthe seat I9 and the flapper valve to close, thus sealing Ithe contentsin the chamber.

In operation the chamber 2l of the bailer is lled with gas underpressure as previously described which gas pressure automatically closesthe top valve 8, the flapper valve I 8 and seats the slidable member Ilso as to give a closed sealed chamber. The bailer is then attached bythe bail I 4 to the sand line or cable I5 and lowered into the well.When the bailer reaches the bottom of the Well I, the slidable sleeveI'I will seat the seat II'I and allows the gas in the chamber to bedischarged. This discharge of gas breaks up the sand and siltaccumulations and reduces the pressure within the bailer to such anextent that the top valve 8 opens and allows the chamber to becompletely exhausted of its gas. When the gas pressure is completelyexhausted, the sand and silt particles in suspension in the oil wilirush into the bailer through the fiapper valve to occupy the areaformerly occupied by the gas. v

This inrush of sand and silt particles will take place through thebottom sleeve valve although some will enter through the top valve whichwill remain open until the bailer is recharged with gas. Aftersuflicientvtime has elapsed for the bailer to iill it is lifted from thebottom of the hole and returned to the surface to be emptied. The weightof the liquid in the chamber when the b ailer is raised from the bottomof the weil willv cause the flapper valve to close and hold the sand andsilt within the body of the bailer. Upon reaching the surface of theground, the bailermay be emptied by removing the bailer, bottom which isattached to the bailer body by lugs or a threaded joint.

Fig. 2 shows a modified structure of the slidable sleeve member mountedin the bottom of the barrel. Mounted in the bottom of the barrei is abottom piece i6 similar to the one disclosed in Fig. 1 having a seatportion i9 at the upper end and a seat portion 33 at its lower end.Slidable in the bottom piece is the sleeve il', having fiapper valve i8'on top, ledge 20' to seal on the seat I9 and a lower flange member 3lhaving a seat 32 to seal with the seat 33 when the sleeve is movedupwardly. The bottom piece has ports 3U' therein bored at approximatelya. 45 angle -to thel main ybody ofthe bailer barrel having one end ofthe bore discharging into the well hole bottom and the other endconnecting with the passage 23'. The operation of the modied structureis similar to that previouslydescribed except that the gas is dischargedat an angle into the formation. In some` Well holes encountered,`

this modied structure has been found more desirable than thatdisclosedin Fig. 1.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown anddescribed, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and thatvarious changes in shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resortedto without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of thesubjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A bailer comprising a main barrel portion A closed at both the topand bottom thereof forming thereby a closed chamber within the barrelfor holdingfluid under pressure and means for releasing the pressurefluid upon the landing of the bailer on the bottom of the well-holecomprismounted in the Y thereby a closed chamber within the barrel forkfirst and be raised which unseats the sleeve'fromholding fluid underpressure, the bottom of the barrel having mounted therein a sleevemember, the top thereof forming a seat portion, a slidable membermounted within and spaced from the sleeve member, a ledge portion on top-of the slidable member to seal with the seat portion on the sleeve anda channel space between the sleeve and slidable member discharging thefluid under pressure at the bottom of the bailer.

4. A bailer comprising a. main barrel portion closed at both top andbottom thereof forming thereby a closed chamber within the barrel forholding fluid under pressure, the bottom of the barrel having mountedtherein a sleeve member, the top thereof forming a seat portion, aslidable member mounted within and spaced from the sleeve member, aledge portion on top of the slidable member to seal with the seatportion on the sleeve, a channel space between the sleeve and slidablemember discharging the fluid under pressure at the bottom of the bailerand the slidable member extending below the sleeve member so as tostrike the bottom vof the well first when the bailer is lowered to breakthe seal between the sleeve and the slidable member.

5. A bailer comprising a main barrel portion closed at both top andbottom thereof forming thereby a closed chamber within the barrel forholding iuid under pressure, the bottom of the barrel having mountedtherein a sleeve member, the top thereof forming a seat portion, aslidable member mounted within and spaced from the sleeve member, aledge portion on top of the slidable member to seal with the seatportion on the sleeve, a channel space between the sleeve and slidablemember discharging the fluid under pressure at the bottom of the bailerand a. apper valve mounted in the slidable member functioning to allowliquid from the well to enter the chamber after the pressure fluid hasbeen discharged therefrom.

6. A bailer comprising a. main barrel portion closed at both top andbottom thereofl forming thereby a closed chamber within the barrel forholding fluid under pressure, the bottom of the barrel having mountedtherein a sleeve member with discharge ports through the side wallthereof, the top thereof forming a seat portion, a slidable membermounted within and spaced from the sleeve member, a. ledge portion ontop of the slidable member to seal with theseat portion on the sleeveand a channel space between the sleeve and slidable member dischargingthe fluid under l pressure through the channel and ports in the wall ofthe sleeve member.

JAMES P. STEPHENS.

